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Monday, January 23, 2012

Fallenwood Book Tour

Reader Girls hosts the Fallenwood Book Tour today. Author Leslie D. Soule shares a guest post with us as well as an excerpt. Keep reading to find out about the giveaway too!

Book blurb: Fallenwood—a land where magic is the life force, dragons are sages, and wizards good and evil battle for supremacy. When 23-year-old Ash is thrust into the middle of Fallenwood’s power struggles, she is also forced to face her own inner battles. Life on Earth was hard enough on Ash, who is locked in grief for her stepfather.

Now, the fate of Fallenwood rests on her shoulders. She must destroy the Great Crystal—the catalyst for all the land’s magic. As the kingdoms prepare for war, Ash must look inside to find the power to save the world, and herself.

Guest Post by Leslie D. Soule:Creating A Unique Fantasy WorldHow do you make your fantasy world stand out among others? Well, I suppose that’s always the big challenge with writing fantasy, really – to do something that hasn’t been done before or isn’t just a rip off of a fantasy world that’s already been done. This idea is such a challenge that on the “Fantasy Novelist’s Exam” on rinkworks.com/fnovel, listing all the things you shouldn’t do as a fantasy writer, the creator asks, “Is your book basically a rip-off of The Lord of the Rings?” as question 74, and then follows it up with number 75 – “Read that question again and answer truthfully.” One of the things you have to figure out as an author is how much you want your fantasy world to be like the real world. With Tolkien, he chose to create a whole bunch of flora for his fantasy world of Middle Earth, from Mallorn trees to Kingsfoil, and yet he seems to also have understood that you need some mundane items thrown into the mix as well – like when he mentions carrots or stew. Creating a unique fantasy world relies on your ability to blend the mundane and the surreal in a way that readers can connect to, and finding that balance between bland and overly strange.

I think it might have been C.S. Lewis that I was reading, who explains that fantasy is a combination of elements that do not normally go together, and then you blend them. He explained that gold and trees are both “ordinary” things, but fantasy happens when you combine them and get a gold tree.

Then, of course, you have to figure out how magic works in the fantasy world you’ve created. This is like the keystone that holds things together. Orson Scott Card writes about how there has to be a “price” for magic, every single time it’s used in a fantasy novel, otherwise your characters become too powerful.

That being said, I believe that your fantasy world becomes your own when you combine elements in a unique way or when you’re able to explain the workings of your fantasy world so well that the story begins to write itself and the characters take over. It is difficult, but well worth it when you can look back and say, “No one else could have created that.”

Best of luck to you aspiring writers out there!!!

An excerpt from Fallenwood:The dragon’s eyes glowed, for a flickering moment, with white light.

“Ash,” the dragon continued, “Welcome to Terra Illumina…or as it is more commonly known, Fallenwood.” Then a fierce roaring laugh erupted from the stone, as though the dragon thought the new name a joke. “A dark, difficult, dangerous path lies before you, Ash Kensington.”

Ash’s heart grew heavy. In truth, she knew that she was destined to some terrible, dark fate. For so long, her life was filled with sadness and doubt, and one horrible thing after another. What else can I hope for?

“But Ash, you must not lose hope. Our world needs you..."

About the author: Leslie Soule lives in Sacramento, California. Fallenwood is her first fantasy novel. She has received her B.A. in English from Sacramento State University and is currently working on her Master’s degree in English at National University.

Giveaway: Leslie will be giving away a $25 Barnes and Noble GC to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour as well as to the host with the most comments (excluding Leslie's and their own). Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here.

We thank Leslie D. Soule and Goddess Fish Promotions. Our review will be up soon.

Thanks for your question, Catherine Lee. What made me want to write fantasy was my familiarity with the genre and I've always been fascinated by the creatures and elements of fantasy - dragons, unicorns, castles, magic, etc. Fantasy definitely has its difficulties, but it's also a genre that's open to a lot of experimentation for a writer, so that makes it enjoyable.

Feel free to join me on tomorrow's stop on the blog tour, over at Traditional Romance for Modern Women: